District devises plan to transport students

By Iva Kay Horner Publisher/Editor

Posted:
09/24/2013 09:13:34 AM MDT

Updated:
09/24/2013 09:14:03 AM MDT

With last weekend's flood event fresh on their minds, Brush Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michelle Johnstone, along with School Business Officer Aaron Oberg reviewed the plan on getting students to school on Wednesday.Due to the flood, and as of the Tuesday evening board meeting, all of the bridges in Morgan County, with the exception of Rainbow Bridge, were closed to traffic, thereby leaving the district to devise an alternate plan to pick up students on the north side of the South Platte River.While the flood prevented the Brush District from holding classes Monday and Tuesday, Dr. Johnstone told the board, "We have had stellar communication going the entire time that all of the flooding has gone one. We have received communication from fire, police, Jim Crone…we have had amazing information so that we can make the best decision," she added.Regarding a meeting held last Monday morning between district officials and emergency personnel, the superintendent continued, "It was great to have the information and everyone here as a team."To give the board an idea of what the district was up against, Beaver Valley Elementary School fifth grade teacher and Brush Volunteer Fire Department member Paul Acosta showed photos, as well as videos, he had taken while out on patrol with the fire department.The concern, Acosta said, is the area around Dodd Bridge and Highway 71 north to Snyder, further adding that Dodd Bridge was expected to be out for a while.

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"They are having a lot of trouble keeping it up," he commented.Completely washed out was County road T.9, with Acosta explaining that it could be out for weeks. "There is a lot of concern on he stability of the bridge and how long it will hold," he said. At the time of the meeting, water was still flowing across that bridge.Also washed out was the bridge on Highway 71 near Wacker Ponds.It was not expected that the Brush area would be out of flood stage until Thursday or Friday of last week, he added.As for transportation, Oberg told the board that the only way to pick up students on Highway 71 in the Snyder area would be to use Rainbow Bridge in Fort Morgan, thereof adding 29 miles and 44 minutes to the bus route."Our driver will stage it so that in the morning, they already have the bus at their house…they will start north on Highway 71 and come down 71," he explained. Parent were being asked to transport their children to Highway 71 with a pick-up also scheduled in Snyder."We have told the parents that this is a 30-day window at least and then we'll reassess in 30 days," Oberg said. "We don't go through standing water with our buses. We'll get as many kids as we can possible here…it's going to take a little bit longer and that's unfortunate."With Highway 52 as the only place to cross for 60 miles the business officer commented, "It's busier than normal because that's the only way to get across.""We have some of the best people doing this. They will be able to work through this entire route. They've taken on the challenge and I appreciate that," he said. "The bus is still the safest way to transport kids because of how they are built."Because of the situation, the district will see an increase in fuel costs, as well as in driver expenses, with Dr. Johnstone noting that the Colorado Department of Education has contacted her to see where the district could use help. The superintendent also is investigating information through Senator Udall's office.Several Beaver Valley students were scheduled to attend the board meeting to receive recognition, but were cancelled due to the flooding and roadway. They have been re-scheduled to be at the October 1 meeting.In other business, Beaver Valley Principal Jennifer Kral explained that the 32 students were to be recognized for showing high growth from third to fourth grade in one or more categories of reading, writing and math."It's a huge celebration," she stated, reiterating the district's goal to become a premier school district, along with being named to the Top 10 in Colorado.Of the 32 students, 17 were female with 15 male. Also, she explained 18 were Hispanic and 14 were Caucasion, three were in the Gifted/Talented program, 13 fell in the ELL program, with five having an IEP. "It just shows that regardless of background, culture, and economic status, every student has the opportunity to show high growth," she stated.According to the principal, she used one year data in her comparison, and not the three year, "because it was that good…it was better than the three-year average when combined," she added.With several students moving into the "exceeds" category, Kal said, "We haven't seen exceeding in our framework for about two years now." Because teachers are able to continue to work with students in small group instruction, use collaboration and high impact brain research to make it happen, she said, "We are in that solid ground of improvement.""It's exciting for us to see some growth," she remarked.She also told the board that the building is working on another goal of community engagement, and at a picnic held the week prior, had more than 120 siblings, parents and other relatives in attendance. Students also are partnering with Eben Ezer Lutheran Care Center where students and neighbors will participate in reading."We've got an awesome team working in the Brush Schools," said board president Don Dillehay. "We don't say thank you enough…it takes a whole team to make this thing work."Board members also participated in an exercise with Food Services Director Traci Berg, who asked the board to help her prepare a lunch menu using a new program that assists her in meeting USDA guidelines.Berg reported that Thomson Primary School held a BBQ the week before hosting approximately 200 guests. "It was a crazy day at Thomson but a great day and the kids had fun," she said.Her staff will participate in this weekend's Oktoberfest festivities by making and selling chili and cinnamon rolls. Funds raised through the community service project are designated for a needy family in Brush.In his financial update, Oberg told the board that bond proceeds, as of September 12, have been completely spent "which is what we planned to do a year ago, but due to weather and timing of our capital projects, we weren't able to get those done in June so we moved them to July and August…as of September, we have depleted 100 percent of those funds. It is a very positive thing to use bonds from 2003 and 2004 to do those projects."Auditors were scheduled to be in the district this week, with the financial audit scheduled for completion this month.Additionally, Oberg reported that an individual has been hired for the business office. Primarily funded by the Head Start program, she will assist Oberg with completing Head Start's finances in a timely manner.The consensus agenda involved approving Phyllis Abreo as a special education paraprofessional for the first semester at Beaver Valley, Teresa West as a returning volunteer, also at Beaver Valley, Jamie Givens as a one-on-one paraprofessional at Brush Middle School and David Cummings as the head wrestling coach and Brian Talmich as assistant wrestling coach at Brush Middle School. The resignation from Blaine Uhrig as head wrestling coach at the middle school also was accepted.Brief discussion was held on two policies with one on electronic participation in school board meetings and the other involving community use of school facilities.An executive session for the quarterly review of Dr. Johnstone was scheduled, however as two board members were unable to attend last week's meeting, the decision was made to reschedule it for the October 1 meeting.

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